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Jack White Orillia Matters Life Synopsis

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Jack White Orillia Matters Life Synopsis

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The attached article is a synopsis by Orillia Matters detailing the life story of Jack White and his time spent trying to clear his name to regain his life and mission of helping children with disabilities.

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Orillia baseball coach Jack White proudly poses with his book of training drills and his popular sock-bat method of hitting.

Orillia coach and volunteer Jack White has overcome plenty of hurdles to chase his passion for playing and coaching baseball.

The 77-year-old was born in Toronto and was raised in a series of foster homes as an orphan.

"Instead of Children's Aid finding me a place to live, they put me into an institution," he told OrilliaMatters. "I was in the Huronia Regional Centre (HRC) here in Orillia since I was eight years old."

Despite having what White describes as a normal level of intelligence, he was forced to start life in an institution for those with intellectual challenges.

"I didn't have a good childhood," he said. "I survived it because I grasped onto certain things to keep me going, and one of those things was baseball."

White's idol, Mickey Mantle, was what first inspired him to make the best of life and get involved with baseball.

"When I first heard about baseball, it was all about the New York Yankees," he said. "Mickey Mantle always struck me, and I became a fan of him throughout his career."

White would play exhibition baseball games in the HRC yard with other orphans, and he says he was a natural right away.

"I could pick a bat up and I could throw a baseball. I could really do it," he said. "My coach there, Jack, tried to get me into minor baseball in Orillia, but they wouldn't let me play."

His coach snuck him out of the HRC to play in a few minor baseball games with the town kids, which always meant a lot to White.

Life got a lot better for him when he turned 18. He was finally allowed to leave the HRC and play baseball whenever he desired. The next hurdle for White was getting educated.

"I was assessed with Grade 4-level education," he said. "In 1966, they had a continuing-education program in Elliot Lake, and I went in there and convinced the folks that I'm intelligent enough and have been held back."

He worked all the way to a Grade 12 education and got a credit in Psychology 101. Then, he made his return to his childhood home, the HRC, where he worked as a counsellor for 23 years with the mission of treating residents better than how he was treated.

"There were a few people who got their noses out of joint about me working there," he said. "Here is somebody that we bossed around for years and bullied and, all of the sudden, he's working here now."

The resentment from fellow workers didn't bother White, and he stuck to it. He believes he was one of the best counsellors on staff, and he won awards for his work.

"They wanted to destroy my reputation because I was doing so well and was in the paper all of the time for baseball," he said. "The theory was, 'We've got to stop that Jack White.'"

In 1993, White was wrongly convicted for the sexual assault of a developmentally disabled woman. The judge gave him a suspended sentence to stop him from going to prison, but being convicted would result in White losing his job and the privilege of playing or coaching baseball.

"I was determined to prove to everybody that I'm innocent," he said. "It was hard, but I persevered and came through it all right."

In 2009, the Supreme Court ordered that the Ontario Court of Appeal reconsider White's case. One year later, his charges were withdrawn and his name was finally cleared.

Seventeen years later, White could finally get his life back on track. Now, he's as happy as ever. He coaches baseball in the summer and ice hockey goaltending in the winter.

He has had a successful tenure as a coach by using the same strategy to teach as he has used to get through his life, which is to stay positive.

"I enjoy seeing the smile on kids' faces," he said. "I always approach kids in a positive manner, never negative."

He says the best way to coach young people is to pick out the positives in their game and then quietly work on their weaknesses.

White's passion for coaching dates to 1979, when he attended the Best Ever Baseball Clinic in Toronto. He is hopeful that he can keep coaching baseball for years to come.

"I'm still young in spirit," he said. "I can still outrun the kids, and as long as I can stay ahead of the kids, I'm all right."

This year, White will be coaching 14-year-old bantam players with Orillia Legion Minor Baseball.

"My goal is to make the game a lot easier for the kids to play," he said. "I want to teach and pass along all the skills I've learned over the years."

White will be available all summer to run baseball clinics for players looking to sharpen their skills. He encourages parents to call him at 705-327-9553 to set up a practice date and time.

"I do this for free," he said. "I was paid by the Legion one time to do a baseball clinic and I turned the money back into them and said, 'This is for the kids who can't afford to play.'"

He says the joy of watching children have fun, grow, and fall in love with the game of baseball is well worth the time of organizing the clinics.

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PROFILE: Despite life's curveballs, Orillia man says baseball has kept him on a positive path

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Orillia coach and volunteer Jack White has overcome plenty of hurdles to chase his passion for playing and coaching baseball. The 77-year-old was born in Toronto and was raised in a series of foster homes as an orphan. "Instead of Children's Aid finding me a place to live, they put me into an institution," he told OrilliaMatters.

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Jack White had a dream job to work with developmentally handicapped children, but that was ruined by his wrongful conviction.

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It was Jack White's dream job: working with developmentally handicapped children at the very treatment centre where he had suffered 12 years of institutional abuse at a time when such horrors were commonplace.

But what might have been a Hollywood script for a feel-good movie went badly awry in 1993, when Mr. White was himself convicted of sexually abusing a helpless resident and fired.

Sixteen years later, Mr. White has asked the Supreme Court of Canada to help exonerate him. He maintains that his life was ruined by two miscarriages of justice - the first, when the system incorrectly incarcerated him as being mentally deficient; and second, when a resentful co-worker framed him for the sexual assault.

"I want the stain removed from my name," Mr. White, 64, said in an interview. "Society will finally be told that it didn't happen."

Abandoned at birth by his mother, Mr. White spent nine years in foster homes before he was transferred to Huronia based on a theory that he was incapable of learning.

On Monday, Mr. White described sexual and psychological abuse the children endured - such as being stripped naked and forced to stick their noses between one another's buttocks; and standing inside rings of flaming alcohol.

"I can see the pictures in my mind," he said, breaking down in tears. "It is not an easy thing to talk about."

Upon turning 21, Mr. White was released. Several years later, he took two years of social work training and was hired by Huronia as a counsellor. He spent the next 23 years working with children who were severely disabled by autism or other mental afflictions.

"I always treated the residents as my sisters and brothers, because I was once there myself," Mr. White said. "I treated them like human beings and my friends. I liked getting the paycheque, but it wasn't a job."

Mr. White was hailed as a hero who had soared above his tragic beginnings, and was once selected as Orillia's volunteer of the year.

However, in 1989, Mr. White co-wrote a hard-hitting report documenting alleged episodes of abuse at Huronia. Soon afterwards, a fellow counsellor, Daniel Wither, lodged a complaint claiming that the report implicitly identified him as an abuser.

Four years later, Mr. Wither accused Mr. White of grabbing the breast of a severely handicapped resident after showering her. He said that Mr. White had joked: "Have you ever seen a body like this before? Have you ever seen such a nice tit in your life?"

Being incapable of speech, the 38-year-old resident could not confirm or deny the alleged incident.

An hour into Mr. White's trial on March 28, 1995, his lawyer surprised him by offering no defence. "I turned and said: 'What? Aren't you going to put me on the stand?' " Mr. White recalled. "He thought that he had destroyed Wither. And he did destroy him! But my lawyer forgot one thing ... you have to rebut what the guy says."

After deliberating for 62 minutes, the jury convicted Mr. White. The trial judge noted that Mr. White was "legendary" at Huronia for his dedication, and gave him a suspended sentence.

"Being bitter and upset wasn't going to help me," Mr. White said Monday. "Let the law take care of this man [Mr. Wither] I'll fight to get my name cleared."

In 1999, the Grievance Settlement Board ended a 29-day hearing into the case by ruling that there was "overwhelming evidence" that no sexual assault had ever occurred. It said that Mr. White had been wrongly convicted because of an incompetent defence and a lying witness who "held ill-will" towards Mr. White. The board rejected Mr. Wither's accusations as "not credible in the extreme."

However, its ruling was quashed on appeal on the basis that grievance boards lack the power to overturn a court's verdict. His battle apparently stymied, Mr. White began to eke out an existence on welfare and handyman jobs.

Should the Supreme Court agree with AIDWYC lawyers James Lockyer and Joanne McLean later this fall that the case ought to be reopened, the Ontario Court of Appeal will consider fresh evidence in the case.

"This chap has really been bashed around - first by Huronia and then by the judicial system," Mr. Lockyer said Monday. "He was sent to live with people who are seriously mentally handicapped when he was not, and then, having come through it, he went down again. It is terrible."

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A life ruined by abuse and 'bashed around' by the courts

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It was Jack White's dream job: working with developmentally handicapped children at the very treatment centre where he had suffered 12 years of institutional abuse at a time when such horrors were commonplace. But what might have been a Hollywood script for a feel-good movie went badly awry in 1993, when Mr. White was himself convicted of sexually abusing a helpless resident and fired.

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Jack White's Sexual Assault Conviction Quashed!

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Jack White's Sexual Assault Conviction Quashed!

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After 17 years of Jack White saying "This sexual assault did not occur" the Ontario Court of Appeal revoked his conviction.

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Jack White had a broad smile on his face outside Ontario's Court of Appeal after a panel Wednesday quashed his 1995 conviction for the sexual assault of a developmentally disabled woman.

"I've been saying it for 17 years. This sexual assault did not occur,'' White, 65, told reporters after a three-judge panel tossed out the conviction and ordered a new trial.

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Orillia man's 1995 sex assault conviction quashed

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Crown concedes that trial counsel failed to challenge credibility of chief accuser

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Jack White in his home after being allowed to reopen his case to clear his name.

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Photo of Jack White after having the charges against him fully cleared.

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Jack White - the man who is said to be always smiling even through the rough times.

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This video portrays just how wrongfully convicting a person affects their life. Having to start over for a new life, a new home, a new job, a new everything.

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Wrongful Convictions: A Life Sentence | Pamela Glatt | TEDxSFU

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The Innocence Network: a global institution committed to proving the innocence of individuals who have been wrongly convicted.

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The Innocence Network (Wrongful Convictions Documentary Marathon) | Real Stories

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There have been many cases over the years of innocent people being convicted of crimes they did not commit. Is Canada too quick to jump to conclusions?

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Is Canada Wrongfully Convicting Too Many People? | The Agenda

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On December 3, 2009, the Supreme Court ordered that the Ontario Court of Appeal reconsider Jack's case. On June 30, 2010, Jack was at long last granted the chance to clear his name: assisted by Mr. Lockyer and fellow Innocence Canada lawyer Joanne McLean, Jack told his story before the Court.

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The day of Wrongful Conviction shows just how impactful wrongfully convicting a person can deter them from their path of life.

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October 2 is wrongful conviction day in Canada, a day dedicated to acknowledging those who have suffered the repercussions of a miscarriage of justice. Stella Acquisto looks into two cases of people who were wrongfully convicted.

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Wrongful conviction day sheds light on miscarriages of justice - CityNews Toronto

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October 2 is wrongful conviction day in Canada, a day dedicated to acknowledging those who have suffered the repercussions of a miscarriage of justice. Stella Acquisto looks into two cases of people who were wrongfully convicted.

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